Garden Clean Up!

Have you heard the phrase "Eat the frog first"-- what else could you have to do that would be worse than that? The truth of this makes me laugh-- the energy created by doing the worst thing first and getting it out of the way is amazing! Anyway, I have been procrastinating the garden clean up for weeks and the avoidance of it has really sapped my strength so starting on Saturday, I decided to get to it and finally today, YAYYYYY! it's finished-- all the overgrown dried and dead plants are trimmed back to the ground, every bed raked and 17 wheelbarrows full of leaves and plants have been dumped in the compost pile! It was such a beautiful day (sunny and 16 degrees C) that I also started collecting some fir boughs for the window boxes on the shed and garage...here are some photos of the before and after.

BEFORE and AFTER!
The weather forecast for the rest of the week is lovely so I think we'll try to finish the outdoor holiday decorations before the snow flies... now, which frog will I eat tomorrow?

Saturday morning...

...this morning dawned lovely and bright. As soon as it warms up a bit, I'm heading outside to FINALLY clean up the garden. I admit, it's not my favorite 'garden chore', but all the cutting back is so much more difficult in the spring when there is new growth that must be carefully protected. Maybe I'll leave the dried hydrangea flowers to catch the snow when it falls-- they grow by the garden shed which looks so cosy in the winter with the flower box filled with pine boughs, twinkly lights and a dusting of white. I think I'll collect some boughs today as a reward for all my work in the garden and maybe take some before and after photos to motivate myself...heheheheehe...yup, it's myself I'm trying to motivate! I'll be back-- enjoy your day! xo